From a beach in France

Spending a week in France to rest and get ready for my next big project. This photo was taken at Île d'Oleron on the Atlantic coast during last weekend.

So, what's this new project?

Well, I am very happy to announce that I have been authorised to finish writing a musical based on a Swedish book published in 2013, which has already been translated into several other languages as well as being made into a play.

The writer said she loved my first four songs and I was given the green light to complete the musical. It will be a concept musical, which does not have a typical linear narrative, and I hope to share more details in a near future.

And to be honest, it's not really new to me. I started trying to write songs over a year ago, and it's just taken this long to get to know the characters well enough to be able to write in their different voices.

I have a really good feeling about this, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first. Back to the synopsis and breaking down of the scenes. The music will come by itself.

Yesterday's gig

Yesterday's wild bird charity gig for the Rosemary Room Pop Up at Alfriston Chapel went really well - under the circumstances; On Friday night I accidentally stabbed my own hand with a pair of scissors, and am currently unable to use my left hand for literally anything as it's swollen, blue and still quite sore.

But, the show must go on, so I performed as planned, but with specially prepared backgrounds instead of playing the guitar, and it was kind of liberating, being able to focus on SINGING!

It might have been the first time ever that I sang songs in 4 different languages in one gig (English, Swedish, Portuguese and Japanese).

The awesome three-course vegan meal, included in the £20 ticket, was cooked by my friend Krishna Mutty (link) and I could enjoy it fully at the end of the evening. Perfect ending to a pretty rough weekend.

Thanks everyone for coming out!

Apparently, the famous hymn "Morning Has Broken" was written in Alfriston by Eleanor Farjeon in 1931. It IS a lovely village in the middle of the South Downs.

Love This World

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

Love This World is my 12th single. Let me tell you a bit about it, and why I begin this post with a quote (freely translated) from the Dhammapada.

As you may know, it's not a new song. I wrote it when I was living in Tokyo, for my fifth album Beautiful Place, which was released in 2013. I usually described it as a ”mantra for a more peaceful world”. Simple phrases which are repeated to manifest peace around us, because I firmly believe that we create the world with our thoughts. Currently, fear is overwhelmingly predominant in peoples' minds, and that creates a lot of tension in the physical world; War, hate, narrowmindedness, selfishness. That is not the world I want to live in, and that's why I wrote this song, to help people move peace and love into their own lives, minute by minute, day by day.

This new version of the song was recorded in 432hz, which is said to be the vibration of the Universe. Everything in the world vibrates in different frequencies. You can easily see this when you watch an atom in a microscope. When you zoom in close enough all you can see is vibrating matter. That's the world. Everything vibrates. Usually, music is recorded and tuned in 440hz which is a higher and apparently more tense vibration than 432. So I decided to give it a go.

Then, something amazing happened. I'd been crazily busy and hadn't sung a single note for weeks, so my voice was untrained and definitely not fit for recording. But I plugged in the microphone and recorded one take, just to have as a reference while recording the other instruments.

And for the First – Time – Ever when recording vocals, my voice was on pitch and I sang the song straight through without any problems. I never considered myself a good singer, and have always struggled with pitch. Until now.

That first take is the vocals used in the final version, which is now released on all online platforms, such as iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and Google Play. I simply couldn't improve that first, spontaneous take. I still remember when I recorded it, I was almost moved to tears because the experience was so effortless.

Listen to a sample here below, or get it from one of the websites above.

France

I spent the past week in the South West of France where I except for spending quality time with a friend, also worked on the production of a new album with new songs.

Having an unreserved dinner at a restaurant in a small village two hours from Bordeaux and asking if a vegan option would be possible and the French chef comes out within one minute offering us an improvised 3-course meal from what he's got in the fridge - in perfect English - turned out to be one of my most unforgettable eating experiences ever.

Or driving through the endless vineyards of Congac to the soundtrack of Django Reinhardt. Or feeling the smell of the Atlantic Ocean on the top of Dune du Pilat. Or strolling through medieval streets in the pale winter sunlight. I can't choose a favourite moment. I've met incredibly friendly people, seen marvellous places, been invited to people's homes, and this week really feels more like a month. The wine. The champagne.

And Bordeaux, what a beautiful city! I will be back. Probably sooner than later.

Time and musicals and not much else

Time flies. It's been 6 months since I posted anything here, and it's mostly due to the reason I haven't had time to create much of interest to post.

However, yesterday I had a very promising meeting with a British actor and writer who is very interested in being the bookwriter for my Japan-themed musical. He has already come up with some great ideas, and we really seem to be on the same page.

The musical has an important subject that we both are passionate telling the world about, so you can expect more updates on this later this summer. We're both busy with other things, but hopefully some time will open up to finally get this musical off the ground.

I'm also constantly writing songs for the weekly BML songwriting workshop, and that takes most of my spare time, not leaving a single moment to think of my own projects or musicals. We will have the whole month of August off this workshop, so that will hopefully be a blessed time for me to get some of my own writing done.

I am very happy with my new vegan lifestyle. It's over 8 months now, and I feel healthier than ever. Sure, I was a vegetarian for 20 years, so it was an easy transition.

I guess you could call me a Vegan Abolitionist.

Almost 10 years ago, a clairvoyant told me I lived a previous life in Brazil and that I was killed while I was fighting for the abolition of slavery.

So I guess it all makes sense. My love for human and animal rights, the country and culture of Brazil, the language, the music. It was all already in me.

The series of unreleased songs

Posting the series of unreleased songs on facebook has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. It has been a true pleasure to share my musical past with you. Having written 500 songs feels very special, and as you can hear in these examples it's in all kinds of different genres.

Here's the list of all songs, with direct links and the year of recording.

About J.C. Schütz

Johan Christher Schütz is a Swedish songwriter and composer writing for musical theatre. His songs have been covered by singers from four different continents.
He released his first solo album Passion in 2004, which immediately became an indie bestseller in Japan.

During October 2011, his song Slow Down was the most played foreign song on Japanese radio.

He premiered his first musical Tivolisaga (Carnival Tale) in Sweden in 2013, written in collaboration with director Johan Pettersson.

In 2016 he was admitted to the BML workshop in London, aimed at nurturing and developing new British musical theatre writing.

In 2017 he received the Löf Foundation Culture Award.

In February 2018, new musical 'Colette' was showcased in the West-End at Crazy Coqs, with music by Schütz, and lyrics by Rachel Dawick and Danusia Iwaszko, written during the BML workshop.